Associated Press – Former Rep. Anthony Weiner was sentenced Monday to 21 months in prison for sexting with a 15-year-old girl in a case that rocked Hillary Clinton’s campaign for the White House in the closing days of the race and may have cost her the presidency.

Weiner, 53, dropped his head into his hand and wept as U.S. District Judge Denise Cote handed down her sentence. After the hearing ended and the judge left the bench, Weiner sat in his seat for several minutes, continuing to cry.

In pleading with the judge to be spared from prison, the former congressman tearfully said he was “a very sick man for a very long time.”

“I am profoundly sorry,” he said, reading from a page in front of him. “The crime I committed was my rock bottom. … I live a different and better life today.”

The sentencing completed the sordid downfall of the New York Democrat whose penchant for exchanging lewd messages and photos with young women destroyed his congressional career in 2011, doomed his 2013 run for mayor of New York, wrecked his marriage to Clinton’s closest aide, Huma Abedin, and became entangled in the 2016 presidential campaign.

Weiner pleaded guilty in May to transferring obscene material to a minor, punishable by up to 10 years in prison, for illicit contact with a North Carolina teenager.

Prosecutors said he sent her porn and got her to take her clothes off and touch herself on Skype.

Weiner sent his victim obscene images and messages about what he would do to her if she was 18 in messages

In imposing sentence, the judge cited a need in such a highly publicized case to “make a statement that can protect other minors.”

Cote noted that Anthony Weiner repeatedly got caught sexting and said that while he has made “great strides” in treatment, “the difficulty here is that this is a very strong compulsion.”

Federal prosecutor Amanda Kramer had urged Cote to give Weiner a significant prison sentence to end his “tragic cycle” of sexting.

Weiner wore his wedding ring to court. His parents were in the courtroom but not his wife.

Weiner was accused of asking the high schooler to strip naked and touch herself for him on Skype. The girl has not been named but has agreed to have her face shown (pictured)

He and Abedin, who have a 5-year-old, are going through divorce proceedings.

Anthony Weiner said nothing as he left the courthouse. He must report to prison by Nov. 6.

He was also fined $10,000. After his sentence is served, he must undergo internet monitoring. He must also enroll in a sex-offender treatment program.

The FBI was investigating Weiner’s contact with the high school student when it came across emails on his laptop between Abedin and Clinton, prompting then-FBI Director James Comey to announce in late October 2016 that he was reopening the probe of Clinton’s use of a private computer server.